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Non-ignorable missing covariate data in survival analysis: A case-study of an International Breast Cancer Study Group trial

Publication ,  Journal Article
Herring, AH; Ibrahim, JG; Lipsitz, SR
Published in: Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series C: Applied Statistics
May 20, 2004

Non-ignorable missing data, a serious problem in both clinical trials and observational studies, can lead to biased inferences. Quality-of-life measures have become increasingly popular in clinical trials. However, these measures are often incompletely observed, and investigators may suspect that missing quality-of-life data are likely to be non-ignorable. Although several recent references have addressed missing covariates in survival analysis, they all required the assumption that missingness is at random or that all covariates are discrete. We present a method for estimating the parameters in the Cox proportional hazards model when missing covariates may be non-ignorable and continuous or discrete. Our method is useful in reducing the bias and improving efficiency in the presence of missing data. The methodology clearly specifies assumptions about the missing data mechanism and, through sensitivity analysis, helps investigators to understand the potential effect of missing data on study results.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series C: Applied Statistics

DOI

ISSN

0035-9254

Publication Date

May 20, 2004

Volume

53

Issue

2

Start / End Page

293 / 310

Related Subject Headings

  • Statistics & Probability
  • 4905 Statistics
  • 0104 Statistics
 

Citation

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Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Herring, A. H., Ibrahim, J. G., & Lipsitz, S. R. (2004). Non-ignorable missing covariate data in survival analysis: A case-study of an International Breast Cancer Study Group trial. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series C: Applied Statistics, 53(2), 293–310. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-9876.2003.05168.x
Herring, A. H., J. G. Ibrahim, and S. R. Lipsitz. “Non-ignorable missing covariate data in survival analysis: A case-study of an International Breast Cancer Study Group trial.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series C: Applied Statistics 53, no. 2 (May 20, 2004): 293–310. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-9876.2003.05168.x.
Herring AH, Ibrahim JG, Lipsitz SR. Non-ignorable missing covariate data in survival analysis: A case-study of an International Breast Cancer Study Group trial. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C: Applied Statistics. 2004 May 20;53(2):293–310.
Herring, A. H., et al. “Non-ignorable missing covariate data in survival analysis: A case-study of an International Breast Cancer Study Group trial.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series C: Applied Statistics, vol. 53, no. 2, May 2004, pp. 293–310. Scopus, doi:10.1046/j.1467-9876.2003.05168.x.
Herring AH, Ibrahim JG, Lipsitz SR. Non-ignorable missing covariate data in survival analysis: A case-study of an International Breast Cancer Study Group trial. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C: Applied Statistics. 2004 May 20;53(2):293–310.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series C: Applied Statistics

DOI

ISSN

0035-9254

Publication Date

May 20, 2004

Volume

53

Issue

2

Start / End Page

293 / 310

Related Subject Headings

  • Statistics & Probability
  • 4905 Statistics
  • 0104 Statistics